Stranded
by AngelAxexinf
Summary: Nearly destroyed by a deadly fungus that ravaged the city planet in one night, Coruscant lies in ruins. The survivors have formed gangs and the only safe houses are nearly impossible to reach. Rex and Bliz have lived in the feral zone for seven months, scraping by with little food and supplies. Bliz is barely mentally sound, but that will not stop him from trying to find his squad.
1. Chapter 1

OoOoO

'_Every holonews station is reporting thousands of cases of insanity spread throughout the patients of Coruscant's Capital Hospital, located between the Jedi Temple and Senate Building . What was at first only a few reported occurrences has quickly jumped to a planet-wide pandemic as more and more people were brought to hospitals for insanity and erratic bursts of violence. _

'_Thus far, there is no known explanation for this behavior. Patients began being admitted in the late afternoon by concerned family and friends. Roughly three hours later, hospital staff and security guards were unable to keep these Coruscanti citizens within their rooms as their actions grew more and more violent. Their strength, as reported by head physician Doctor Mura Hrais, had almost tripled by the time the first few patients started escaping. They ripped through straitjackets and broke glass windows with their heads. They killed hospital staff and other patients without conscience or remorse. Eyewitnesses report the scene as being a bloodbath._

'_Skylanes are currently shut down and public transportation closed off as crazed hospital patients break out of hospitals all over Coruscant and start attacking the general populace on the streets. Even still, panicked people try to escape their cities in speeders laden down with belongings. Space ports are congested with fleeing groups of people, despite having been told to shut down. Chancellor Palpatine has order the CSF to call a Planetary State of Emergency; all civilians and non-essential personnel are to remain indoors until it is safe to come out again.'_

OoOoO

Fires burned buildings, speeders, and people, the night sky illuminated in bright orange and yellow. Broken glass and engine fuel spilled over the duracreet walkways. Screams erupted and abruptly stopped in alley ways, apartments, and the streets of Coruscant, taken over by snarls and growling. Entire masses of people ran in terror from the infected Coruscanti that chased after them. They hissed and spat, but spoke no coherent words, and felt no pain. Their hands snapped necks and crushed faces as their half-broken teeth sank into throats and arms. Screams of pain and terror ripped through the darkness illuminated by flickering neon signs and streetlamps that still glowed.

Blood spilled on the clothing of doctors, nurses, and hospital patients, but none paid mind to it. Dead eyes searched the fleeing hordes of citizens for their next victim. They easily took down stragglers.

At the edges of those crowds, clone troopers tried their best to fend off the claws and bites of the infected. Blue-and-white laser fire plowed into the bodies of the crazed Coruscanti citizens. One such trooper was attacked by two infected, one male Twi'lek and a male Rodian. His screams of terror and pain were lost in the louder screams and shouts of others being eaten alive. Blood flooded and gurgled in his throat. He twitched and writhed on the ground until his cries became chokes, and then silence. Each male took off in different directions, chasing after new targets. Troopers everywhere were overpowered by the brute strength of the insane individuals.

Over-crowded lanes shook with pounding footsteps and bodies that thudded as they fell. Blood pooled, sinking into cracks and gutters that lined the sidewalks. People fell off the hover pads into dark chaos below, the occasional infected following.

Speeders collided in mid air in balls of heat and fire, broken parts and fuel descending upon those on the walkways, outside buildings, anyone who had not taken fire. The gas caught and burned the flammable clothing of those caught in the blast. Sirens screamed as an ambulance ran head-on into another driver, heaps of burning metal spiraling into a vacated storefront. The entire thing burst into flames, consuming crazed hospital patients and citizens alike.

Bodies burned, fell, crashed through windows and into other bodies. They leaped off walkways and bridges and trampled each other to death.

Chaos rang in the night, and no one was prepared for the worst of it.

Pale morning sunlight filtered through the tattered, thin curtains, a gentle breeze lifting the light cloth away from the wall. Grey walls were stained with watermarks and other, unidentifiable things. The floors were wood, splintered in some places and cracked in others. One floorboard by the closet was coming up.

Three beds lay side-by-side in the small room, roughly a meter of space between them—one lacked a proper bed frame. The occupant of the middle bed stirred, knocking the thin blanket off the mattress. He woke with a gasp, sitting up straight in bed. Curling his back, he pulled his knees up, resting his elbows on them.

"Cody? You're awake. Good." The occupant of the bed on his left spoke up suddenly, his deep and gruff voice startling. His back was against the wall, an arm laid across the top of his knee. He was barefoot, but white plastoid boots were on the floor by the foot of his bed.

Cody pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling gauze under his fingers. He scowled as a headache started to form. Cody examined the room around him; the blue, thin blanket on the floor and stained bed sheet he'd been sleeping on top of. Closing his eyes and massaging his temples, Cody asked the first thing on his mind. "What happened…?"

"We found you in a rundown building—a warehouse, actually." That didn't explain what Cody wanted to know, but he felt it would be all he'd get for a while. "You hit your head pretty bad; you were in and out of consciousness for a few days." He shifted until he was sitting up, legs hanging over the side of the bed. "Do you remember anything that happened before then?"

Cody gave the man a confused look, then one of shock; it was a moment before he realized it was Rex who was talking, and that they were both wearing dirty, worn, civilians clothing. "Rex? What happened to you?" His brother had changed since the outbreak; lines crossed his tan face, making him look older than he really was. Skin crinkled around his eyes, but they weren't from laughing. Stubble poked out of his chin, desperately in need of shaving. Besides all that, there was a permanent half-scowl etched into his face that brought his eyebrows together at a low point. "No, I don't remember— what do you mean by 'we'?"

"Bliz is here too," Rex said, bending to pull on his boots. His grey shirt was covered with stains other than mud and grime. "Can you walk?"

"Bliz is here?" Cody asked. He raked a hand through his overgrown black hair, breathing out a sigh. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't relieved. "Anyone else?"

"No." Voice gruff and almost tired sounding, Rex answered curtly. With an edge of impatience, he repeated his question. "Can you walk?"

Cody stood, the floorboards under his feet cold and hard. Dizziness swam in his head for a few seconds. "I think I can manage." His hand gripped the headboard of his bed.

"Good." Rex's unusual curtness confused Cody. "Come on, we're going out for supplies."

Another face appeared at the door way, this one also covered in stubble. His hair was slightly longer than normal, styled differently so it could be easily managed, but Cody instantly recognized the face. "Bliz?"

"Cody! You're finally awake." Bliz smiled. "I found some cereal in another apartment," he said to Rex as he held a bowl out to Cody. "I left the rest of it in the kitchen, if you want any." Steam curled gently from the purple bowl. A metal spoon glinted in the sunlight. "You should eat something, Cody. It's been a while since you did." Bliz stepped into the bedroom, holding the bowl out.

Rubbing his head again, Cody accepted the breakfast. Colorful, sugary children's cereal floated in the warm milk. "Why'd you heat it?" The entire thing was mushy.

"Tastes better that way," Bliz replied, eating his own cereal out of a plastoid bowl. He went back to the doorway to lean against the wall. The look on Rex's face said that was Bliz's personal opinion. "They said it's also safer to eat it that way."

Cody's mouth twisted in confusion. "Who's 'they'? Is there anyone else here?" he asked. His memory was spotty; he couldn't remember much of what happened before the day the infection broke out, or how he'd ended up in the warehouse with a bump the size of Coruscant on his forehead.

Neither man answered. Rex chose to start packing a flimsy backpack he'd found, putting things like a flashlight and blaster charges in it. Bliz only munched silently on his heated cereal.

"They also said we'd have better luck searching for food and supplies today down south, instead of north. Maybe we'll find some candy like we did a few months ago…" he said with a slight bit of perkiness.

Bliz's suddenly easy-going attitude was a puzzle Cody decided he would figure out later. He never remembered the normally sour Commander as being one to smile or take on a lighthearted tone this often. Something about him just seemed…simpler, almost childlike. He acted as if the traumatizing night everyone was infected never happened.

Rex saw the look Cody was giving Bliz. "Tell you about it later," he muttered to Cody as he walked out of the room, carrying the pack in one hand.

Bliz, still standing in the doorway, glanced at Cody, and then Rex. "Tell him what? What are you muttering about?"

"Nothing," Rex answered, slipping on the heavy pack. The items inside clacked against the armor hidden under his clothing. "Finish eating and get your stuff."

Bliz frowned but said nothing. Finishing his cereal, he threw the bowl in the sink in the kitchen connected to the bedroom. "I'll get something for you to carry supplies in, Cody. We should have another back pack around here somewhere…"

The search for the pack took about five minutes, during which Cody learned that they were on the second floor of a four-floor apartment building, with twenty rooms on each floor—this was the only one that had been unlocked. It was made of brick and duracrete, and hot water was on and off. There was one window in the only bedroom where he'd woken up; a kitchen lay directly across from where Cody slept (this with two windows), and a closet was on the right of Bliz's bed, farthest from the window in the bedroom, which was by Rex's bed. The kitchen and living room were connected, no wall to separate them. The door to the apartment led straight to the living room. Once one entered the living room, the refresher would be on the immediate left. The door was scratched and rough.

He learned that most of Coruscant's police force had been wiped out on that first night, and that within three days the population dropped by millions—the infected were not considered citizens. When he asked where they all went, Rex told him that they had fallen into the vertical tunnels that led to the lower levels, most likely toward the center of the planet. He said he didn't know anything about those that lived in the lower levels.

Cody learned that those who'd survived the pandemic resided in "safe houses" spread across the planet; the Jedi Temple, the Senate building, and the Republic Army base were the main ones, each housing five hundred to thousands of people.

He learned that Coruscant was completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy. No one knew whether the virus had spread to other planets in the system or not.

Within another five minutes, they were outside, and Cody was caught up on Bliz and Rex's situation; Bliz was looking for General Jorani and the rest of Crusade Squad, and Rex was trying to find a way to get to one of the three main safe houses, to see what had happened to his men.

Cody kept a steady pace behind Rex. "So we're more or less alone out here." It was more of a statement than a question.

"As far as we can tell, yes. There's the occasional gang, but we stay away from each other." Rex maneuvered around heaps of metal and other obstacles.

Bliz pulled up next to Cody. "I think they want to try and avoid confrontation. They said there was a clone in one of those gangs—"

"There aren't any clones in those gangs," Rex snapped. His tone suggested that he and Bliz had had this conversation more than once. "They're either dead or in one of the safe houses." Jaw set, Rex marched forward.

Bliz scowled, dropping the conversation. They walked on in silence, their boots crunching on broken glass and fragments of gravel.

Silence stretched through the soldiers to the far reaches of the neighborhoods they passed through. Cody questioned why it was so quiet until he realized that there was a severe lack of people. No speeders hummed as they broke the speed limit. There were no shouts or casual conversation as people milled about on sidewalks. Nothing moved, walked, or so much as twitched in the mid-morning sunlight.

Deathly silence permeated the air. Every little noise stood out to him and made the hairs on his neck stand on end. Wind blew between buildings, whistling through broken windows and kicking trash down walkways.

"You get used to the silence after a while," Bliz said, breaking the steady emptiness in the air. "They said it might take a bit, but that in the end you barely even notice it." He aimed his blaster at nothing, eyeing the scope. "Took me a few weeks…"s

Cody decided not to try and question who "they" were. They continued for another ten minutes in one of the large shopping centers of Coruscant. "Why aren't we going into those stores?" Empty restaurants passed them by left and right, and had been doing that for a while now. Cody imagined species from around the galaxy dining at the dark tables under the warm sun, food traveling regularly in and out of the wide kitchen doors.

"Gangs have already claimed those ones." Rex stopped long enough to point at the wall of one store. A large white X marred the otherwise even surface of grey stone. "We so much as go in, and they'll hunt us down."

"We made that mistake once before, but they let us off with a warning. I think it's because we're clones and—"

Rex glared._"Bliz."_

"—they _pity us_," Bliz ground out, teeth gritted. Annoyance shadowed his face before he shook his head, aiming his sight at something else. "Anyway, we don't go in those places. _But_ we did find a small strip mall that—as of late—wasn't tampered with."

They rounded another corner, talking a short flight of steps down through an alleyway. Shrouded in darkness, the trio wove their way through broken duracrete and heaping piles of rotting garbage. Nausea crept up the back of Cody's throat, and he pressed a hand over his nose to try to block out the worst of the stench. Soka flies buzzed incessantly around the piles of trash and waste, maggots most likely squirming and hatching beneath layers and layers of refuse. The mere thought made Cody want to gag, so he shifted his hand to cover his mouth and struggled to hold his balance against the ebbing and flowing waves of dizziness.

"You okay back there?" Bliz asked, pausing to pass a look over his shoulder. Either he didn't smell rotting garbage, or he was better at ignoring it.

"I'm fine—" Cody's foot caught on a large lump. He lurched forward with a small yelp, slamming his arms into the ground before his face could meet with the filthy duracrete. "What the—" He turned on his side, glaring at whatever it was that had tripped him.

The lump lay on the ground, shoulders curled inward as if caught in the middle of a shiver and legs cut off at the knees. A body.

The shoulders twitched, head turning with a sickening _crack_ and _pop_. One cold, dead, yellow eyes bore into Cody. It hissed.

Not a body. An infected person.

Fungus sprouted from what was once and eye socket. Grey skin peeled from its cheeks and a tooth fell from its rotten gums to the slimy ground beneath it. Long, dirty fingernails lunged for his ankle before he was fully standing, dragging him back down. Its hiss morphed into a hideously low growl, saliva dripping over its half-smashed face.

"Cody!" A rough hand gripped his shoulder in a painful hold, yanking him backward.

The infected person lunged forward again, growls quickly changed to loud snarling and biting. Both hands reached out to claw at the solid plastoid. The man behind Cody tripped, and Cody was brought roughly to the concrete again. His elbow connected with solid brick and flared in pain. He cried out just as its teeth clamp onto his foot.

One laser shot cracked through the air, the resounding sound echoing into the farthest reaches of the empty city.

The infected person froze, squeaked at the burning laser whole in its forehead. It twitched and dropped to the ground with a heavy _thud_.

"We need to hurry up and get out of here," Rex said, holstering his blaster. He pulled Bliz up by his hand, who in turn helped Cody to stand. "Are you hurt?"

Cody rubbed his sore elbow. "I don't think I'll be able to move this for a while."

Rex's lips twisted to form a swear word, but stopped before any sound was made. "Come on. We'll patch you up later. Bliz, mark this alley down."

Bliz nodded solemnly, guiding Cody in front of him. "We'll have to find another way to get into this area that doesn't require a speeder." Cody wasn't sure if Bliz was explaining the situation or talking to himself.

They exited the alley, bright sunlight momentarily blinding them.

"This is it," Bliz spoke, voice raised. He stepped out to the center plaza, sweeping both arms out at his sides. It was as if the previous incident with the infected person had never happened. "The regular entrance by speeder—" He pointed to the entryway, blocked by the crushed bridge that once curved above it. "—is, as you can see, impossible to use. Doesn't matter because no one has speeders anymore."

"This is where you get everything?" Cody looked around at the undamaged shops and stores, small but still supplied, judging by what he could see through the dark windows.

"Currently, we're the only ones who know about this," Rex said, making his way to one of the shops.

Bliz stood, frozen to the spot. His eyes narrowed, one hand moving to the blaster holstered at his side. Cody stopped as well; every nerve in him stood on end, an eerie feeling gripping his spine and crawling down his back. "What's wrong?"

"Rex! Get down!" Bliz was across the plaza in seconds, tackling him to the ground just slugshot rounds pounded into the ground where he'd been standing.

Cody's gut instinct took over. His blaster immediately aimed for the area where the slugshots had come from. "Who are you?" Cody yelled, blaster pointed at a building.

The sunlight silhouetted the form of a person kneeling on the roof of a bakery. A male's voice called out to them. "So you thought you could just blow off our meeting, Rex? Figured you could just stop shipping supplies and we wouldn't notice?"

"Rex? What is he talking about?" Bliz's hand was on Rex's bicep. He roughly hauled Rex to his feet. "What the hell is going on, Rex?"

Rex didn't answer, instead pulling his arm out of Bliz's grip. He faced the stranger on he roof. "You know why I couldn't talk to you—"

"Ah, yes, but there were _so many days_ after you found him!" The man swung his legs over the edge, leaping off the roof and landing on the ground, in the shade.

Bliz and Cody immediately trained their blasters on him. "Don't move!" Bliz yelled. "Rex, what is going on?"

The man took a step forward, both hands held in the air. "Now, I don't mean you any harm…" He trained his eyes on Rex. "But I expect my crate of supplies."

"Rex…" Bliz slowly crept toward the man. A vicious snarl was slowly forming on his face, creating new lines in his skin. "Who is he?"

"Bliz, lower your blaster," Rex said, keeping his voice calm and even. He held his hands up, fingers splayed and gently edging toward Bliz. "This is someone we can trust—"

"Someone we can _trust_?" Bliz almost spat. Anger split his face, and his grip tightened on the weapon. "Rex, have you been giving _gangs_ our supplies? Is this why you always insisted on scouting out alone? You're helping the very people you _swore_ you'd never associate with!"

Cody's own thoughts were beginning to swirl in his head. Rex was a brother he'd known and _trusted_, but supplies—things like food and medicine—were being traded and sold to gangs who traded people and ran underground cage fights for sport.

The man, who had been silent up until then, suddenly spoke up. He lowered his hands by his sides, making the flaps of his dark jacket bounce. "He said that? I'm _hurt_, Rex, I really am—"

"Vin, I need you to stay out of this," Rex snapped, raising his voice. "Bliz, if you would let me explain—"

"You have nothing to explain to me!" His thumb hovered over the switch on the blaster. One flick, and it was set to kill. "You've been giving away materials we needed to survive," Bliz whispered, the sudden drop in his voice startling everyone. "You expect me _let you explain_ when you've betrayed us? More and more people are gathering on these roofs waiting to gun us down!"

Shadows stretched across the grey stone of the small plaza, each in the form of a head and shoulders. Long, shiny black sniper rifle barrels trained themselves on the trio.

Vin finally stepped out of the shadows, the sun glinting off the shiny black leather of his heavy trench coat. His boots, coated in things other than mud, were just as heavy and dark as the rest of his clothing. Weapons bulked through his black shirt and pants pockets, and there were doubtless others that were hidden from sight. The easy smirk he'd been speaking with shone just as bright as the sun on his face and burned just as hot as the wicked look in his dark green eyes. Even his bright blond hair had an edge of depravity.

Cody got the sense Vin knew things and he was just toying with them. His whole demeanor reeked of childish giddiness and an insatiable thirst for chaos and power. Just then, Vin's dark green eyes locked onto Cody's and held them for a second too long. His smirk deepened.

"Did you fail to alert your friend here, ah…what was your name?" Vin aimed his burning eyes on Bliz. Bliz only returned his look with a cold glare. "Hm. Never mind then." His hands flew into the air with a flourish. "We'll just have our little meeting with Rex here and be on our way—"

The nose of Bliz's blaster found Vin's heart with a click. "Step. _Back_."

The sound of dozens of blasters whirring and training on Bliz echoed through the empty strip mall.

"Bliz," Rex hissed, risking a step toward his comrade. "Let me handle this. Vin has things that we need—" The slightest hint of desperation crept into the edges of his tone. Rex's eyes sought out Bliz.

"Only because you've been giving them to him!" he yelled, disgust twisting his face. "I always thought you were above this kind of thing—"

"They might know where the rest of Crusade Squad is." Rex unknowingly held his breath, eyeing Bliz for his reaction. "In order to get more information on their whereabouts, I had to trade."

Bliz recoiled as if he'd been kicked in the gut. "They…" He swung his gaze to Vin. "You know?" The anger drained out of his face, leaving only caution and something akin to tired relief.

"Surprise!" Vin exclaimed, doing another hand flourish. He strolled to Bliz in the center of the plaza, his stride long and casual, as if there weren't blasters pointed at him and the men of interest. "This was all going to be one giant sort of…_gift _for you. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned." He shot an almost accusatory glance at Rex. "But I like Rex, and I know that he tolerates you to some extent, so I am willing to tell you what I know."

Bliz continued to stare at Vin. "You'll tell me?" Bliz asked, still disbelieving. His eyes narrowed, the barrel of the gun immediately aimed between Vin's eyes. "How am I supposed to believe you?"

Vin looked hurt and offended. "I am a reliable person! I must say, though, that that General of yours—what was her name? Jorani, I believe—is quite the fighter. And mover. Constantly jumping from place to place with her little piercing friend in tow—"

"You saw General Jorani and Ridge?" Bliz's hope broke through. "Where are they?"

Vin waggled his finger. "Not just yet. I would like to have a private word with Rex first." Vin moved to the left, towards the fallen bridge, beckoning Rex to follow him.

Rex gave Bliz a look before following Vin. Holstering his gun, his bent his head low towards him.

Cody struggled to keep up with what was going on. His head hurt from all the events trying to fill the holes in his mind. Pressing a palm to his face, he rubbed the bandage that wrapped around his head.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Bliz asked softly, eyeing the pair a few meters away. Their voices were too soft to be heard from where he was.

"I have no way to tell," Cody answered, moving to stand beside him.

Vin suddenly jerked upright, clapping his hands together once. His voice filled the entire plaza. "Great! Glad we've struck a deal, Rex." Spinning on his heel, he strode toward Bliz. "Now, about your buddies…" He smiled, his grin bright and unnerving. "Last I saw them, they were a few klicks south of here, near the city of Trens. My, uh, _scouts_ got a hologram recording of them." Vin dug a hand around in his long trench coat pocket, shifting it around until he pulled out a small disk. Tapping a button on its edge, a blue, grainy image hovered in the air. In it, a woman in dark clothing walked quickly, another person just behind her and out of range of the camera. They both froze as the woman pulled out her lightsaber, eyeing her surroundings. The recording ended.

"That's them…" Bliz said, his voice barely audible.

"I _could_ take you to them—ah, don't get excited now." Vin smiled, pocketing the disk. "But they've been pretty shifty, am I right?" he called to the snipers along the roofs. It took them a moment to realize that he was addressing them, but they eventually nodded their agreement.

"Bliz." Rex was by his side in a split second. "Bliz, we need to think this through before—"

"I'm not taking advice from someone who's been lying to me for the past seven months," Bliz growled, shoving Rex aside. "What do you want in trade?"

Vin's silence made Cody's nerves spike. "Nothing I'm sure you clone Commanders can't handle," he said, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "You know the Veris district, right? Well, that was taken from me by a rival gang—and by infected people."

The same look of dread that landed in Rex's gut showed on Bliz's face.

"I want it back."

* * *

_The first chapter of Stranded and it's already pretty heavy. This story won't be light hearted, so this is a general warning for future chapters. I currently don't have a schedule for this, but I'll try to make one._

_Reviews, comments, and critiques are always appreciated!_

_~AAx_


	2. Chapter 2

The walk back to the apartments is weighed down with a tense silence none of the clones seem willing to break. A half-scowl is permanently etched onto Bliz's face, his eyes focused forward and shoulders stiff.

Cody sends a questioning look to Rex. He'd been sensing from the beginning that something was severely off about Bliz, but he couldn't tell just what. Rex doesn't seem to be in an answering mood because his only response is pursing lips and facing forward again. Bliz is a few meters ahead of them, but his heavy and agitated footsteps are loud enough to ring through the empty air.

Attempting to get Rex's attention, Cody moves to walk closer to him. "Is Bliz…alright?"

Rex's mouth hardens again, but he answers. "Something in him just…broke, the night the infection got out."

Cody's face twists in confusion. "Define 'broke'."

The shadow of the apartment building comes upon them, the air a few degrees cooler under it. Rex is about to speak when Bliz uses an unnecessary amount of force to get the door open. Without waiting for the other two, he stalks into the building.

Rex seems to be dreading the inevitable as he climbs the filthy stairs because he hangs back just a step to keep in line with Cody. "His PTSD got the best of him," he says softly, so Bliz won't hear. The Captain's voice is heavy with sorrow and regret for half a second, but Cody detects it. As if his shoulders hadn't sagged under the weight of regrets and pain, Rex aims his eyes forward, a harsh scowl already back in place. Cody could still feel the concern for Bliz that clung to Rex's skin like sores.

The stairwell falls silent.

Bliz's footsteps echo off the concrete steps and bounce off the dingy walls. He freezes at the door to the landing, his hand gripping the door handle so hard Rex thinks it might break. His hesitance holds his hand there for a fraction of a second before he roughly pulls open the door and stomps inside the hall.

The room is clear when they get to the apartment, as it always is. The stains are still on the walls and floors, and the window that Bliz left open before they left still has wind blowing through it. Nothing but silence and Bliz's splitting anger fills the air, and Cody prepares himself for a fight that could possibly come to blows. Bliz moves onto the couch, his blaster by his side and one filthy boot on the small rug under the caf table. He doesn't make eye-contact with anyone, and behaves like a wild animal ready to attack if threatened.

Rex steps inside, dropping his pack on the carpet by the door. "Bliz-"

"I don't want to hear it!" he snaps, rising from the couch with clenched fists.

Rex tries again, keeping his voice as even as possible. "Bliz, listen to me, I just-"

"Do you realize what we have to do?" Bliz growls, taking two strides to meet up with Rex. "That dirt bag of a crime lord wants us to take back an _entire fucking district_, Rex. It's impossible and you _kriffing know it_!"

Rex's face struggles to stay even, but his own negativity is starting to show. "I know what I did, Bliz. Giving Vin those supplies was the _only_ way he would have told me anything. What would you have done?" Rex doesn't seem willing to back down, his shoulders stiffening and ready to take whatever Bliz decided to say. Cody cautiously moves forward, keeping his eye on Bliz.

Wind whistles in the window, disrupting the thin curtains.

"How long?" Bliz asks, voice dangerously low.

Rex only stares, playing dumb. "What?"

"How long have you been giving that bastard _our_ supplies?" Bliz steps closer, almost toe-to-toe with Rex. Cody decides this is an appropriate moment to take his own steps toward the pair. He can sense Bliz's fury from across the room.

Cody tries his best to intervene. "Bliz, arguing won't get us anywhere."

He ignores what Cody says. "_How long_, Rex?" he asks again, raising his voice to a point just below yelling.

Rex's face is stone still, but his eyes are a storm of emotion. His voice is low and hard when he speaks. "Five months."

Bliz is frozen to the spot, teetering slightly on the balls of his feet. Cody sees what is about to happen but isn't fast enough. Bliz's fist cracks into Rex's jaw, the force of the blow knocking them both off balance. Rex falls to the floor with a grunt, gingerly pressing his hand against bleeding lip.

"Five _months?!_" Bliz yells. He's getting ready for another attack before Cody is even across the room to stop him. "You've been dealing with that bastard for _five months_? Do you not remember everything he's done to us, or do you want me to jog your memory for you?"

Rex rises slowly to his feet, his own look of anger twisting his features. "Yes, I _remember_," he spits, teeth clenched. "I also remember how distraught you were the night the infection got out. I _remember_ you trying to find the rest of Crusade Squad-"

"Rex," Bliz snarls. "Don't. You are treading on _very_ thin ice." Bliz doesn't want to remember what happened months ago, that much is clear to all of them. Despite how angry he is, he pales under his tan skin.

As if acutely attuned to everything Bliz felt, Rex lowers his voice. "I remember," Rex continues slowly. His voice is calm, and his hands are up in front of him. "I remember you and I agreeing to help each other as much as we can, do you? 'Because we're brothers'-that was what you'd said. I remember trying to gather information on my own about what happened to Crusade Squad, and how hard that was. I remember hating seeing you not sleep every night-"

"Rex…" Bliz's rage seeps through his face into the floor, his raised fists relaxing and dropping like useless wings by his sides. His shoulders sag, head turning down to the floor in what Cody could only call shame.

"I remember you getting more and more distraught each night as you thought you'd never find Crusade Squad." Rex's hands are on Bliz's shoulders. He gives them a little shake to get Bliz's attention.

The fight completely leaves Bliz, a look of pain and regret marking his face. "Rex, I'm sorry I-"

Rex shakes his head. "Don't apologize. What's done is done." His hands squeeze Bliz's shoulders, once.

Cody is surprised at the quick turnaround from Bliz. He relaxes as well, watching him carefully. His head is still turned toward the ground, like a child receiving a scolding.

"Bliz," Rex says sternly. Bliz looks up but doesn't answer. The deepest look of sadness is swimming in his eyes. "Bliz we are going to find them, alright?" He drops his hands from his shoulders, taking a step back. "I promise you we'll find them. And we'll find my men and any other survivors, and make sure they're all safe. Okay?"

Bliz slowly nods his head. "Okay," he mutters quietly. For a moment, he doesn't know what to do with himself. With a heavy sigh, he collapses onto the couch's dirty cushions.

Cody speaks up once all the tension from the room has faded away. "So what exactly is our plan?"

Rex purses his lips. "The first thing we'll need is a layout of the Veris district. Then we'll need ammo and supplies like food and medicine."

Bliz speaks up from the couch. "The Veris district's gang system is like any corrupt government: take out the leader, and the whole thing will disintegrate. If we get the head of the gang, the followers wouldn't know what to do without their protection. If they scatter in all directions, a few of them will take care of the infected for us."

"So, that's half a plan," Cody says wryly.

"It's less than half a plan." Bliz rises from the couch, making his way to the kitchen and opening the cupboard doors. The shelves within are mostly empty. "We're gonna need to restock," Bliz states, "we're desperately low on supplies."

"What exactly do we need?" Rex follows Bliz path to the kitchen.

"Food."

"And?" Rex is by Bliz's side now, staring into the cupboards with him.

"Medicine. New shirts. Ammo. Flashlights. Bacta patches. A way to charge out helmets..." Bliz's voice trails off.

Cody is about to step into the kitchen when Rex stops him. "Cody, could you drop off my bag in the bedroom? Also, there's bacta patches in there. Bring those out."

Cody could tell this was Rex's way of saying "get lost for a sec", so he follows the orders and strides into the living room. Just before he reaches the pack, he hears Rex speak in a low tone.

"Are you alright, Bliz?" he asks.

Cody is stunned at what's said. Is Bliz alright? _Rex_ was the one who got punched in the face. Nevertheless, Rex's arm is around Bliz's shoulders, the pair still facing the cupboards. Their voices are hushed, too low for Cody to hear as he makes his way to the bedrooms, but he can feel the pain wafting off of Bliz as his shoulders hunch forward a bit.

Bliz takes a deep breath after a moment. "I'm alright," he sighs, "I just have a feeling this whole mission is gonna be hell."

* * *

**My friend ConstantStateofConfusion helped me write this chapter with the power of GoogleDocs! I'll be changing the previous chapter to present tense, so don't worry if this seems a bit confusing.**

**As usual: review, critique, comment, anything is welcome!**

**~AAx**


	3. Chapter 3

Bliz ties off the bandage, rubbing Cody's elbow. "There; that's that."

Cody examines the area that had been slammed into the duracrete when they'd been attacked by the infected excess of bacta stains the wrapping a light shade of blue_. _"Thank you," he says.

Bliz nods with a small smile before standing to go to the bedroom. Rex is in there, facing the window with his arms crossed.

"We should check the other apartment rooms in here before heading out, see if we can get any of the doors open," he says upon Bliz's entry. Rex turns to look at him. "I figured we'd go to Marle for the supplies this time."

"Rich People City? They said we shouldn't go there, at least not now." Bliz frowns. "What if we tried to open other apartment buildings? They said there might be a lot of valuable stuff in there."

Rex looks at Bliz with something akin to pity, although it's not quite there yet. "Bliz, don't worry; I know what I'm doing. When I made my last…" he stumbles over his words. "...Supply trade, I checked out that district. Many of the houses haven't been touched yet, so we should be good."

Bliz doesn't seem happy about this, but nonetheless relents. "Alright, but just in case, we should pack whatever extra ammo we have. They said we might get some trouble over there."

Rex nods. "Alright," he says. "Help Cody get packed, and we'll be on our way."

In the stairwell, Bliz walks behind Rex as they go over plans for what supplies they need. More than once, Bliz mentions "they". Cody begins to suspect that there are other survivors he maybe hadn't met yet-his memory of anything before waking up with Rex and Bliz is foggy.

The door to the apartment opens, and the group walks out into the bright sunlight. Down below, a lone snarl from an infected person reaches the trio's ears. The platforms and hover-walkways below theirs are shrouded in darkness. Bliz and Cody ignore the sounds, continuing east toward a metal bridge that connects their apartment complex to another.

Cody slows his walking, peering hesitantly over the edge. He can't see that far down, but he can see a few figures moving in the shadows. There's a shout and a flash of red laser fire, and the snarling goes silent.

"Hey! Cody!" Rex and Bliz are much farther up ahead, almost to the bridge. Bliz waves his hand in the air, the other carrying a blaster.

Cody moves back from the edge of the platform, turning his attention to the pair several meters in front of him.

"I didn't think there were still any Infected this high up," Rex says, once Cody catches up.

"Maybe they've been hiding out in some of the lower-level apartments? Like someone got infected, and they just ran back home and hid till they either died or turned," Bliz says. He suddenly falls silent, the thought of someone running back home even though nowhere was safe making his face sour.

Cody doesn't miss the look Rex gives Bliz. He wonders, for a moment, what could have possibly happened between the two that they're already reading each other like large-print picture books. They'd been friends back when the army still existed, but not that close-at least, not as close as Cody had thought.

He doesn't want to entertain the idea that he'd been replaced. Cody marches forward, forcing his mind onto other things. He watches as the buildings pass and become larger and more expensive-they're still damaged, the broken windows and smashed duracrete glaring directly at him.

"We shouldn't be here," Bliz mutters, his finger hovering over the trigger. "They're getting bad feelings about this place."

"Relax," Rex replies. His countenance is a stark contrast from Bliz's; he is calm and forward-facing while Bliz's shoulders are hunched, his eyes darting frantically left and right. "This place is clear, trust m-" Rex freezes, eyes narrowing.

"What? What is it?" Cody stops as well, hearing nothing but wind whistling through the skyscrapers.

A bottle is kicked ahead of them, the small glass object rolling to a stop. "Oh shit," Bliz swears, backing up a few steps with his blaster aimed at the shadows stretching across the walkway. Loud hissing and growling echoes off the buildings' walls, blood and saliva dripping off of the infected that round the corner. A few make loud clicking noises, the swollen, fungus-covered heads swiveling side to side. A few in the group are wearing nothing but torn hospital gowns.

"Run," Rex says, softly at first. His fingers are tight on his blaster.

One of the infected whips its head up, smelling them from across the walkway. It screams, the whole unit of infected men and women moving as one and tripping over themselves. Their snarls grow harsher and more guttural as broken teeth drip with saliva and bits of other people.

"Run!" Rex yells. His boots pound into the duracrete walkway as the horde of infected give chase. Bliz hangs back just long enough to fire a few shots at them.

"Oh shit!" Rex stops short, Cody crashing into his back. Another group of infected round the corner in front of them, growling low in their throats.

"What the hell do we do?!" Bliz yells, aiming for as many of the infected as he can. When one drops, another just as quickly takes its place. The two groups of infected are blocking their only ways out and are quickly taking up space on both ends of the walkway. Their snarls echo off the tall buildings' walls.

"This way!" Rex grabs Bliz's arm, yanking him roughly down a narrow path that cuts between the large apartment buildings. The feet of the infected pound loudly against the duracrete, frantic hisses and growls morphing into grotesque screaming and snarling.

The sun shines brightly, its glare reflecting off of the smooth building surfaces. They're coming upon the edge of the platform, a steep drop awaiting them. The horde of infected are getting closer, covering the ground between themselves and Cody, who was at the back, in terrifying speed.

"I told you they said not to come down here today!" Bliz yells, not even stopping to fire shots into the horde. A few go down, others tripping over them. They were left behind.

Rex darts down another alleyway to the right, this one narrower than the first. The putrid smell of rotting food clogs his nose and mouth, making him almost gag. Flies and insects crawl over the plastoid bags and bite holes into the remains of fruits. He quickly scans the alley for something to use as an escape. Up ahead is a rusty fire escape, its ladder about a meter off the ground. Piles of trash crowd the path, and his boots kick empty bottles and cans. Just behind him, he can barely hear Cody and Bliz's heavy panting above the wild snarls of the infected.

"All this crap is slowing them down!" Bliz yells, hurdling a large, torn garbage bag. One of the infected trips over the trash, bringing down another three with it.

"Hurry up!" Rex's hands grip the rough metal, one moving over the other until he's on the staircase that leads to the top of the building. The frame shakes and vibrates with their heavy footsteps as the three race up the steps and don't stop until they've reached the roof.

Cody is the first to collapse, his knees and palms hitting the solid stone roughly. His chest heaves, sharp pain ripping through his sides. Rex collapses on the ground beside him, turning his face up to the sky, sweat glistening on his forehead.

Bliz is the only one who remains standing. "We just had to go to Rich Bitch City," he spits, shooting Rex a cold glare.

"Bliz," Rex says, looking too tired to deal with anything right now, "now isn't the time-"

"Then when the fuck is the time?!" Bliz yells. "That's what you always say, Rex! You _never_ listen to me when I tell you what they tell me! You _always _have to go your own way and refuse to admit when you've made a mistake-"

"_Bliz_." Rex stands, meeting Bliz straight in the eye. "You were right Bliz, now take a deep breath-"

He stiffens, his shoulders tense as if he were ready to throw a punch. "We could have died back there." The former Commander turned his back on them, facing the edge of the roof. "We didn't have to come here today. They said some of the gangs would have cleared it out for us." His shoulders loosen, and the only thing that is heard is the continuous snarls and growls of the infected below them. They're fighting to get onto the ladder but keep pulling each other down.

Rex steps forward, laying a cautious hand on Bliz's shoulder. He flinches but doesn't move. "Bliz, I'm _sorry_," he apologizes. "You were right. We'll head up north this time and see what we can find, alright?"

Cody watches the entire exchange in curious silence. His memories of Commander Bliz clash harshly with what he sees before him now; a tired, battered man with flares of anger that don't match him. The constant use of "they" is piquing Cody's interest again, and for a moment he entertains the idea that maybe Bliz had finally gone mad. His PTSD during the war would often keep him up for days on end, the only thing strong enough to knock him out being alcohol.

Cody shakes his head, mentally chastising himself for even imagining it. Bliz was stronger than that, he knew.

"Come on," Rex says quietly. He pats Bliz on the shoulder. "Let's get rid of those infected and then head back up north, alright?"

Bliz spaces out for a moment, as if he hadn't heard what Rex said. "They said not to travel too far north because a gang took over part of the district. I think…" He narrows his eyes, whether against the sun or in concentration, Cody isn't sure. "I think they're the nicer kind. I don't think they'll try to kill us, because we're clones."

Rex only gives a solemn nod. "Okay," he says, pulling the pack he had from his back and opening the flap. A grenade's silver shell shines in the late-morning sunlight. "I'll blow the bastards and we'll head out of here." He tossed the det in the air just once, pressing his thumb against the red button and dropping it above the heads of the infected. He knew the building would be strong enough to withstand the blast-it was reinforced duracrete and the charge was a mild one-but he hadn't expected the ground to shake so much below him. He stumbles, smoke and remnants of arms shooting into the air. The screams of the infected abruptly stop.

Bliz offers a hand to help up Cody, as he is still sitting on the ground. "Come on, this way. We can hop roofs until we find another fire escape." He sets off first, getting a running start and leaping across the two meter space between their building and the next. Heavy thuds soon after tell him that Rex and Cody had landed as well. "We might not be able to get back before evening," Bliz says, obviously displeased. "Do you think we've got enough ammo?"

Rex counts the things on his belt. "If we're careful, we'll make it."

Bliz nodds and took off again.

OoOoO

It's evening by the time they get to the north; Iyis. the city is smaller than the previous one, but most of the section they're in has not been touched yet. Wind blows between the apartments, setting trash to crossing their path and falling off of the platforms.

"I think I'd like a home here," Bliz says suddenly as he examines the various apartments. There are only a few to a building, with a large space in the center, possibly for speeders to park or children to play. On the other side are apartments that are exact matches on the outside.

Cody shrugs. "It would be nice. I don't like the big places."

"Me neither…" Bliz stops walking, and Cody and Rex slow as well. "This one." He points to a door and immediately heads toward it. "They said there'd be good stuff in this one."

Cody questions Rex's obedience to the random decision. "Are we sure what's in there?" he muttered to Rex. Bliz heads forward with a confidence Cody doesn't like.

Rex purses his lips and lets out a small sigh, the barest hint of concern flickering over his features before it just as quickly disappears. "No," he admits almost grudgingly. "But Bliz...hasn't been the same since the outbreak."

That much was obvious. "Are you sure he knows what he's doing? He doesn't seem-"

The last thing Cody expects is for Rex to get defensive. "He's fine, Cody. Letting him take charge is a small way of helping him cope to everything's that's happened." Rex's frown deepens. He's considering whether or not to tell Cody something else-he can see the first word forming on Rex's lips. At the last second, however, the former Captain changes his mind. He shakes his head and goes to see how Bliz has progressed with the door.

"I've almost got it…" Bliz mutters, kneeling before a panel. "Aha!" The door slides open with ease and the trio is met with a strong smell of dust.

Rex walks in first, his blaster aimed and ready to fire at anything that moves. Bliz follows soon after and Cody is the last one in. The walls are a smooth blue-grey, and the living room is mostly-neat. There are two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom, all clean as if the owner had only left for a few days and not possibly been dead for months.

"Clear!" Rex calls, leaving the master bedroom. Bliz echoes him from the kitchen. Rex steps out of the bedroom and stands in the center of the living room, staring from the dusty glass table, to the couch, back to the bed that was visible from where he stood. The owner of the apartment may have just cleared out like he thought.

"I'm all clear!" Cody called, stepping into the living room with Rex. "Let's see what this place has-" A loud crash sounded from the kitchen.

"Sorry!" Bliz yells, kicking around what sounded like broken plates. "These were heavier than I thought…"

Rex sighs but doesn't say anything. He goes back into the master bedroom, opening drawers to see what he could find. Most of them are either empty or filled with women's underwear. He slams those shut and searches the dresser. In front of the mirror lay a few pictures, untouched for months and collecting dust. Rex rubs away as much as he can with his thumb, squinting at the grainy photo. It's of a grey-skinned Twi'lek woman-probably the one who used to live there-with a smaller child beside her. Both are smiling gleefully with what looks like an ocean and a few rocks as their background.

Rex feels a slight pull in his chest-not a pull, more like a twist-and sets the photo down, ignoring the others and opening the top drawers. More underwear. He is about to slam it shut when he hears something rattle beneath all the clothing.

"I've found a whole stash of canned food!" Bliz crows triumphantly from somewhere in the kitchen. There are more sounds of things falling and crashing as he tries to carry an armload of cans into the living room without dropping them.

Rex stares at Bliz through the open doorway before shoving his hand into the drawer and pulling out a pill bottle. Mild painkillers, mostly full. He searches the drawer further and finds antibiotics, stronger painkillers, sleeping pills, and opiates. He goes through the other drawers and doesn't come up with anything of great value, but decides to bring them all to the living room.

Bliz is still making trips to and from the kitchen to the living room. "Okay, so I've separated the cans into what they had. Fruits are over here, meats and beans here, and pastas over there."

Rex suppresses a small smile at the piles of food they're getting. He knows Bliz loves the fruit, which he was making an effort to put at the center, and hated the pasta, which he had nearly pushed to the wall. They couldn't take all of it, of course; they'd have to make multiple trips.

"People can pasta?" Cody asks with mild disgust, entering the living room.

"Yeah," Bliz says absently. He counts the number of canned fruits they have, muttering under his breath.

"What'd you find?" Cody cranes his neck to see what Rex clutches in his hands.

He'd been too distracted by Bliz's fruit to notice the question at first. "Um, medicine."

Bliz stops his counting and look up, a can of berries hovering the in air. "Medicine? What type?"

Rex reads the labels on the small plastoid bottles. "Incyphine, metodoriphine-they're painkillers, antibiotics, and an opiate." He also had a small knife and some gauze.

Cody "hmphed" proudly. "Good job Rex." Cody throws his share on the table. "I've got some cartoon-character bandages, hydrogen peroxide, and an umbrella."

"What are we meant to do with an umbrella?" Bliz gives Cody a look.

"For when it rains, of course." Those who had manned Coruscant's artificial always-sunny weather were either dead, infected or in hiding. There was no telling what the weather would be like.

Rex mentally tallies the supplies they have, not counting what was still in the pantry. "Alright, we'll take the medicine, beans and pasta-"

"Can we take the fruits? Please?" The objection is expected. "We'll come back for the rest of it." Bliz gives Rex his best pleading look.

"Beans and pasta offer more in nutrients."

"Yeah, but the fruit _tastes _better."

"We'll come back for the fruit." They would be taking everything-maybe even a blanket or two because the heater in the apartment building had stopped working. "Pack up-_leave the fruit_-and we'll come back."

Bliz humphs, his face sour. "We won't be able to do that till tomorrow 'cause it's night time now, you know."

Rex looks out the window to the dark skies. "Shit. Come on, pack up and let's go."

OoOoO

The stars are bright. Brighter than any of them had ever seen.

Bliz is trying to walk forward and look up at the stars without tripping over anything-and he's succeeding for the most part. "Would you look at that…" he half-whispers. The lack of lights on Coruscant, "The Planet that Never Sleeps", gives way for the millions of stars that grace the dark sky. Only a few automatic lights are on, and they cast eerie neon and fluorescent glows on their surroundings.

"That's what happens when there isn't any light pollution." Cody is at the front of the group, his footsteps echoing between the buildings. He can see their apartments coming up a few meters ahead of them.

"You think we'll be able to see them from the windows?" Bliz asks, almost skipping forward with his heavy pack. The night is getting chillier, and he suppresses a shiver when the wind blows.

Cody's thoughts about Bliz's mental stability come back full-force. The constant switching between happy and angry unnerves him, as does the mention of "they" with no indication to who "they" really are.

Perhaps he's really gone mad.

The former Commander couldn't help his feeling of pity for Rex, not when they get up to their apartment and not when Bliz starts lining things in the cupboards. He seems to be acting functionally enough; putting the cans of beans and pastas towards the back and the fruits he'd managed to shove into his bag in the front.

"We'll go back tomorrow and search the other apartments in the complex as well, see if we can find any sort of ammo…" He steps out of the room, slightly dressed down in a pair a soft grey pants, a black shirt, and new socks. "I...got these from her," he says at Cody and Bliz's stares.

"They look comfy. I'm going to get a few when we get back." Bliz shuts the cupboard doors. "They've never been so full…"

"And hopefully they'll stay that way for a while. We'll be sure to bring back the rest of the fruits this time, alright Bliz?" Cody says, pulling off his own boots on the couch. "...Bliz?"

Bliz is staring at the corner of the cupboard, barely even focused on his surroundings. He's deathly silent and doesn't seem to hear Cody, his body completely still and shoulders stiff. He doesn't even look like he's breathing.

Cody stands. "Hey...Bliz-"

"He's fine, Cody." Rex takes a step closer to him. The former Commander suddenly snaps out of it, shaking his head and straightening up a bit.

"They...said we should bring that red spray paint we found a few weeks ago. They said we'd need it for tomorrow." Bliz takes a small breath. "They said a lot of stuff…" he mutters softly.

Rex takes the whole thing in stride. "Did they say what for?"

He shakes his head.

Cody's face twists at Rex's nonchalance about Bliz's mental stability. He watches as Rex simply suggests that he go to bed while he clears everything else away. Bliz complies easily, shuffling to the open door and shutting it. "Rex…"

"He's fine, Cody. This...this is just his way of coping…" Rex braces his hands against the sink, staring out the window to the grey buildings below them. "He'll get over it…" He sounds like he's passed trying to convince Cody and more trying to convince himself that his friend wasn't going mad.

"_That_ was not 'fine', Rex!" Cody hisses, pointing a finger at the closed door. "This is a _serious_ issue, Rex! He's doing whatever these voices tell him to! This could go too far and he could-"

"I know!" Rex's fingers dig into his scalp in more than just frustration. "I'm scared he might tell me something wrong, or he could do something dangerous and get himself _killed_, or-" He stops suddenly, forcing a deep breath.

Cody gently places his hands on Rex's shoulders. "Listen Rex, we'll pull through this. We always did, back during the war. Remember? And we've made it this far."

Rex closes his eyes, a ghost of pain the only thing on his face before the tight muscles relax and he speaks. "I don't know what I'm going to do if he goes…"

Cody only squeezes his shoulders. "We'll think of something, buddy. We always do."

A breeze makes the curtains flutter, and Rex goes to shut the window. He eyes the door to the bedroom. "He's asleep. You should get some rest too."

The abrupt subject change confuses Cody, but he obeys the hidden signal. "Good night, Rex." He enters the room and closes the door.

Bliz is already asleep on his bed, the blanket pulled up to his chin and face pressed into the pillow. He looks peaceful, as if he didn't hear voices and do everything they told him to. Cool air is flowing in through the open window and fluttering the curtains.

Cody pulls off his boots, flexing his feet and stretching them out a bit. The blanket falls off the bed with a soft flap. He's almost too tired to bother picking it up.

"Cody…"

Cody yelps and falls off the bed, his heart hammering in his chest. He spins around to see Rex staring at him. "What the hell, Rex?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Rex apologizes, entering the room. "You seemed to be having quality time with that blanket, you were staring at it so long."

Cody rolls his eyes. "I was too lazy to pick it up."

"Right."

He bends and tosses the blanket onto the mattress anyway, watching as Rex squats by Bliz's bed. His hand reaches up, slowly, and rests on the side of Bliz's head. He stirs, muttering something unintelligible before settling down again. Cody can barely hear what Rex mutters in response. He stays like that for a while, an air of worry and exhaustion surrounding him.

"Good night, Bliz," Rex whispers. He gives Bliz a gentle pat on his cheek, standing and climbing into his own bed.

* * *

_Sorry this took so long to get out! I had a bit of a mental block in multiple areas. Next chapter will touch more on the little mission they have._

_~AAx_


	4. Chapter 4

"_Watch out! On your left!"_

The moonlight adds a pale glow to everything in the bedroom, from the dirty walls, to the dirty floor, to the three sleeping men in their beds and floor mattress.

"_Man down! Man down-!"_

He stirs, first one way, then another, as the laser fire and deafening sound of grenades going off become more and more vivid in his mind.

"_We need reinforcements! Commander! Commander-"_

The shouts and screams of soldiers rip his eardrums apart, force themselves into every corner of his mind as images of his old life flash before his closed lids. The screams get louder, more terrified and more agonized till Cody thinks he's the one who's screaming and not his former men. He wakes with a jolt, his skin frozen as ice but hyper-aware of everything happening around him. He can feel the creak of the bed as Rex jumps out of it and rushes to the source of the pain-filled noises.

"_Commander, watch out-!"_

It takes a moment for Cody to realize he's not the one who's screaming. Bliz is curled up on his side, his fingernails digging into his scalp and body shaking uncontrollably, gripped by a nightmare.

"No, stop! Stop! Make it stop-!" He kicks the blanket off the bed, curling into a fetal position on his side and gripping his skull even tighter. Sweat glistens on his goose bump-riddled skin.

Rex is by his side in an instant, clutching his shoulders and nearly desperately trying to shake Bliz awake. "Bliz, wake up! It's just a nightmare-_Bliz!" _

"Let me go!" he shouts. The nightmares still grip the former soldier, eliciting screams and cries of pain as whatever happens in his mind torments him.

"Bliz, open your eyes!" Rex yells. He shoots a desperate look back at Cody.

Cody rises from his mattress, climbing over Rex's bed and trying his best to hold Bliz down without getting hit. His fingers slip on the sheen of sweat on Bliz's skin, and his foot collides with the bed's frame. Cody stifles a yelp and tries harder to pin his brother to the bed.

Bliz shouts again in terror when suddenly he jolts up, his eyes filled with panicked anguish. His chest heaves, face twisted with the remnants of his nightmare. Cody isn't sure, but it looks like Bliz's eyes are shining. Rex, on the bed now, grips his shoulders tightly, pulling Bliz close to him. Bliz gives a yelp and tries to struggle, but Rex holds him firm. He whimpers, dangerously close to tears. His shoulders shake and he squeezes his eyes shut. Bliz opens his mouth and shuts it, small squeaks being the only things to escape his lips.

"T-The...b-battle…" he stutters.

"Shh…Bliz, it's alright. Your brother's got you," Rex says softly, soothingly. He shifts positions so his back is against the wall, still holding Bliz with his head held against his chest.

Cody, unsure what to do, goes to turn the light on. He's stopped by Rex's swift head shake, mouthing the word "no". He freezes by the light switch, hovering awkwardly in the doorway. Cody wonders again how close the pair could have gotten within a few months.

It didn't look like this was the first time Rex had held Bliz after a nightmare.

The Captain slowly rocks back and forth, stroking the back of Bliz's head and muttering something to him. Cody catches "fine" and "I'm here".

It goes on like this, til Bliz's breathing eventually calms down and his hands stop shaking, til eventually his body relaxes and he falls asleep against Rex's chest just as the Coruscant skies go from black, to grey, to pale pinks and oranges. Rex stops muttering when he feels Bliz's back rise and fall evenly. He, however, doesn't go to sleep. His eyes stare out the window at the coming sunrise.

Cody shifts from the doorway and sits on Rex's bed, having been awake for the entire time and not being in the mood to sleep anymore. "How…" He clears his throat, suddenly awkward watching Rex hold Bliz like a child. "How often does this happen?"

Rex doesn't answer for a moment, and Cody begins to think that maybe he didn't hear him. Years of scowling have etched lines into the captain's face, and they seem to grow and stretch as he releases a heavy sigh. "Too often," he says, his gaze still focused on the window. Absently, he strokes Bliz's back.

A soft snore is heard from him, and he stirs a bit but quickly settles down again.

The sun rises above the horizon. The clouds, sparse but present, are stained pink and purple against the golden background. The small room is awash with the colors of the sky, and the thin curtains flutter.

"He wasn't like this during the war," Rex says suddenly, making brief eye contact with Cody before returning to staring out the window. The lack of speeders and general noise of crowds walking the streets at all hours of the day leaves the city-planet eerily quiet, allowing wind to whistle through the tall buildings and set shivers running down Rex's spine.

Cody remains silent, prompting Rex on with a slight nod.

Rex sighs again, heavy and purely exhausted. A rough hand scrubs his face and his stubbled jaw while the other still rests on Bliz. The bags under his eyes seem to grow, and for a moment Rex just stares at the wall opposite him, into the kitchen. "He was...he just wasn't like _this_"-he gestures to Bliz- "back when there was still a Republic."

There still _was_ a Republic-it was located in the Jedi Temple, the Senate building, and the Republic Military base. If it existed anywhere else, it was run by gangs.

"How so?" Cody's memory of Bliz isn't the same as Rex's-Cody remembers a man who was angry, violent, yet ashamed at the same time. He remembers Bliz's dark circles that contrasted so harshly with his vivaciousness and willingness to smile and joke with his brothers.

Perhaps Bliz and Rex were closer than he'd thought.

"He was…" Rex's fingers flit through the air, as if he could grab the words he was looking for. "He wasn't so child-like." He flinches as the words leave his mouth. "Bliz wasn't so cheery before. I guess it's a good thing he seems happier now, but…" He exhales, almost in exasperation. "Something's changed, and not for the better. He hears _voices_, Cody."

Cody looked away from Rex's deeply concerned face, neither understanding nor liking the feeling he gets in his stomach from it. "I've noticed," he says.

"And he does what they say. They apparently tell him not to go somewhere, or what to do or even what to _eat._"

Cody wants to say "I've noticed" again, for want of something better. He doesn't know how to react to something like this. "How long has this been going on?" he asks instead.

"I don't know. I just picked him up after the chaos was over and he just started saying 'they' a lot. He got defensive whenever I questioned him about it." Rex thinks back to the first month after the outbreak, how he and Bliz couldn't get past the part of the city they were in because a gang held them back. Bliz, back then, was what Rex would consider worse compared to how he acted now; shaking, twitching, and seeing and hearing things that weren't there. Absently, he wonders if the condition has anything to do with his PTSD or depression.

The sky is considerably brighter now, and Bliz stirs in his sleep, rolling over and turning away from the window. His fist is pressed against his eye.

"They even tell him where's dangerous and filled with Infected." Rex smirks without humor. "Would've been great on Birva…" he mutters.

"Our scanners worked on Birva."

"Not well."

Both men fall silent, Rex turning his head again to stare out the window. The sun is rising clearly over the horizon, and it's bright rays change the room's color scheme yet again to early morning. The light does nothing to hide Rex's dark circles, which may as well be a permanent part of his face by now.

Cody wants to sleep, but can't bring himself to. Part of him wishes they were living back during the war, where there was chaos and violence, yes, but Cody knew what to do and always had a plan, where he knew where Rex was and he could actually recall what happened more than a few weeks prior.

The former Commander instead sits back on Rex's bed and watches his brother absently rub circles on Bliz's back. The move is so practiced that the hand doesn't stop until Bliz's begins to rise, bleary-eyed and in no way ready to smile. He pushes against Rex's chest and kneels on the bed, shoulders hunched together and glaring at the buildings through the window.

Rex sighs, kneeling as well to be eye-level with Bliz. His palms gently run along his biceps-as if to calm him and prevent a meltdown-and with a firm yet gentle voice he asks, "What was that about?"

Bliz turned his head in shame although his brows are drawn down low, refusing to meet Rex's worry-filled eyes. "What?"

Rex takes a breath. "You said you'd be able to make it a night. Remember? You said you could do it."

Bliz continues to squint at the window. "I...They said I shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what?"

"Sleep by myself yet. They….they said I should wait a bit before I tried."

The former captain looks confused. "Then why'd you go to sleep?"

"You said I should try to get some rest, Rex." Bliz finally meets Rex's eyes. Rex doesn't miss his accusatory tone. "You...you said that sleep was what I needed right then and that you'd wake me up if I-"

"I _did_ wake you up," Rex cuts in.

"Not before everyone died."

Rex purses his lips, forcing down the guilty feeling crawling up his stomach. "I'm sorry, Bliz," he whispers as if just noticing Cody was listening to them. "Next time, I'll listen to you."

"Alright." Bliz stifles a yawn, rubbing a clenched fist against his red eyes.

"I'll get you some breakfast," Rex declares. "Fruit or hot cereal?"

"I'm not hungry."

Rex pats Bliz's shoulder as if he were joking. "I'll get you some fruit. You like the citrus medley one, right? Yeah, you can have as much of that one as you want, brother."

Bliz doesn't respond, only takes Rex's place on the bed after he heads for the kitchen. He wraps the blanket around his shoulders.

Cody follows after Rex. "Where's a spoon?" He's actually surprised to see they have proper silverware and not cheap, broken plastoid spoons and forks.

Rex points to a drawer to the left of the sink. He bangs open cupboards to make a show of getting Bliz breakfast. His face is riddled with guilt and worry, however much he tries to force cheeriness into his voice. "You know we're heading for that one complex again, right?" No answer. "We'll get much more food, maybe even some new clothes."

Cody can feel Bliz looking at them, his eyes not trained on any one object or person. Bliz starts as if just noticing Rex was holding a one-sided conversation. "Sorry," he says, "I was talking to them. We need that red spray paint."

He frowns, casting Bliz an almost disapproving look before turning back to his task. His face twists at the thought of Bliz conversing with voices. "Alright. Anything else?"

Bliz shakes his head.

Rex enters the room with a can of fruit and a spoon in hand. "Here." He hands it to Bliz and sits on the bed. "Today we'll have to clear out the rest of that complex and mark it down. If anything needs to be fixed, we'll do that."

Bliz halts putting the piece of fruit in his mouth, the spoon hovering. Some of the syrup drips onto the blanket. "How do you know we'll find that many people?"

"What?" Cody, still in the kitchen looking for breakfast, can't quite track their conversation. "What do you mean by find people?"

Rex looks about to try and change the subject when Bliz cuts in. "He thinks we'll be able to get clones out of the gangs and build our own community since we can't get to any of the safe houses."

Cody eyes Rex, and the captain looks away. "Really?" he asks, not quite fond of the tone of his voice. He sounds like he's mocking Rex.

Rex scowls fiercely. "There's no point in not trying; if we get enough people on our side, we could save the others."

Bliz speaks up. "That's basically what the gangs do already. They've taken over parts of Coruscant and are clearing out-"

"That is _not_ what the gangs do, Bliz," Rex nearly barks. "They sell drugs and kidnap survivors to sell as sex slaves."

"And they've also cleared up two major cities while the CSF is still having difficulty taking care of the drug dealing in their safe houses and finding actual places for people to sleep." Bliz takes a bite of his fruit, then says with his mouth full, "You know, not all gangs are bad. There was that one from the beginning that-"

"We're not talking about this now, Bliz," Rex says, voice hard with a warning.

Bliz merely shrugs and takes another bite of fruit. He chews silently and watches Rex with an almost bored expression.

Rex stands abruptly, smoothing out the legs of his pants. "You still have a basic layout of the Veris district, right?" he asks Bliz.

"Nope. Burned at Ons with half our gear."

Rex groans and scrubs a hand over his face. "Alright…" Except it wasn't alright; they might have to go in cold to a massive city-district and take out the ring leader. It would require potentially fighting their way both in and out.

It would be three people versus a gang of over one hundred.

"Do we have to necessarily kill everyone and fight our way in?" Cody asks, entering the bedroom.

Bliz kicks the blanket off his legs. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he says, "the way most gangs operate, you take out the leader and they're automatically loyal to whoever took their place. If we could sneak in and take out the head, we could take control of the gang and have them work for us." Cody doesn't mention that this is something he remembers from before his amnesia hit.

Rex nods, more to himself than to what the commander said. "We'd need to find out where their headquarters is, though, and we don't have the technology for a proper recon." He tips his head back and groans, wishing he could at least have an R2 unit. The captain didn't realize how much he took for granted during the war.

"Maybe there's a rival gang nearby that we can ask for help." There is one. Cody knows where they are and what they're called. Again, he doesn't mention it. "They might be willing to help us."

Rex stroked his chin. "Are they near the versi district?"

"Yes."

"So, that's one possibly potential ally." He turns to Bliz, looking a bit uncomfortable. He doesn't exactly meet Bliz's eyes. "And, um...did _they_ say anything about this?"

Bliz stops chewing his fruit. He looks left, then right, then shakes his head. "No, but they might later. They're not as talkative this early in the morning."

"Finish up," Rex says, pulling his boots out of a closet. "We'll head out in twenty minutes, see who we can get on our side before we try to take an entire district." He starts clipping ammo onto his belt with one hand while he rifles through a drawer for a cleaner pair of pants with the other. "Cody, eat something before we go."

Cody obeys and heads to the kitchen, rifling through the cupboards until he finds a can of beans to eat. As he opens it, he sees figures on the apartment platform across from theirs. They stumble and trip over themselves, dripping fluids and covered in plates of fungus. They seem to be running from something. One of them stops to hiss at something not visible through the window.

Was this how close they were to Infected people? Cody had assumed that the area had been cleared, since Rex and Bliz lived here so comfortably. Perhaps he'd been wrong.

Shouting sounded on the opposite platform, and blue lasers fired into the backs of the retreating infected. A group of people-mostly male, from what Cody could tell-chased after the infected, easily taking them down with a few more shots. One of them has a green scarf tied around his head, and he shouted orders to the rest of the group.

"Rex…" Cody puts down his beans. "Rex, there's a group of infected across from us, and they're being chased by a gang."

Rex answers with near casualness. "What color is the leader wearing?"

Cody checks again: "Green. He's got a green scarf on his head."

"Then they're fine. They don't bother us," Bliz says. "They're the good-"

"There is no such thing as good gangs, Bliz," Rex snaps. "Now armor up and finish your breakfast."

Bliz gives Rex an annoyed look but complies, dumping the syrup into the sink and dropping the fork in after it, but he doesn't move after that.

"Bliz," Rex calls, "where did you put my-Bliz?" He looks up to see Bliz staring out the window, a completely vacant look on his face. His hand hovers above the faucet handle. "Bliz!"

He starts. "Huh? Oh." He blinks and looks around in confusion. "Oh yeah-they just told me we'll be getting some help from…" Bliz's face scrunches up in confusion. "Someone whose name begins with a 'J'."

"Oh, _that's _helpful," Cody mutters.

"And that we can trust the green gang to be there." Bliz nods almost triumphantly. "Yep. It might be easier than we thought to take the district." He rinses the fork off and drops it back in the drawer.

Cody looks between Bliz and Rex. How specific could the voices Bliz listened to get? They'd almost given a name and had said specifically which gang-out of the twenty or so in the area-would help them take over a district.

Rex misreads Cody's facial expression and glancing as puzzlement. "The 'green gang' is the Royals. They're rivals to the gang that runs the Veris district, the Purge."

"We came across them once," Bliz says to no one in particular. "They gave us a rappel line in trade for of the chili we had. I think we bonded with them."

Rex zipped up his laser-resistant vest with thick, white horizontal bars along the front. Unaffiliated. "Let's go."

* * *

_Not much progress here, but the next chapter should be interesting._


End file.
